Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18.09.2026 · applies to the Kinderspiel app from version 2.1 and to kinderspiel.app

In five sentences

You can use Kinderspiel without an account and without signing in. We ask for your location only if you grant it, and it is not stored. What you contribute — photos, reviews, new playgrounds — is publicly visible, together with the name you give yourself. We do not sell data and use no advertising identifier in the app; its Discover feed shows an ad — except for everyone who supports us — and on the website advertising and statistics ask for your yes first. Most of your data sits on servers in the European Union.

1 · Who is responsible

Yannick Wippert
Bürklin-Wolf-Straße 3
67157 Wachenheim an der Weinstraße
Germany

Questions about data protection: hallo@kinderspiel.app

2 · If you only use the app

No account, no sign-in. Even then, technically necessary data arises:

Your location is not stored with us. It is transmitted for the duration of one query in order to compute the radius search, and afterwards it is not associated with the account.

The map comes from Apple (MapKit). In doing so, Apple processes the requests needed to draw the map. Apple states that it does not link this data to a person.

3 · Your account

There are four kinds, and you decide which:

• Guest account (anonymous). Created on first launch so that your favourites and contributions belong to you. It consists of a random identifier held on your device only. We do not know who you are. ⚠ If you delete the app, this account is usually lost — which is why the app suggests signing in.
• Sign in with Apple. Apple passes us an identifier and, if you allow it, your name. You can hide your email address in the process.
• Sign in with Google. We request only the essentials from Google: an identifier, your email address, your name and your profile picture. Firebase Authentication stores these details with your sign-in record. We do not copy your name or profile picture into our database — publicly, only the username you choose yourself still appears. Google learns that you are signing in to Kinderspiel; your Google Account is governed by Google's Privacy Policy. If you delete your Kinderspiel account, we remove Kinderspiel from the connected apps of your Google Account. You can do this yourself at any time in your Google Account — your Kinderspiel account is not affected.
• Sign in with email and password. Address and password are managed by Firebase Authentication; the password never reaches us in plain text.

What our database holds: identifier, self-chosen username, profile picture, self-description, home region, points, timestamps. Your email address is not in there — checked on 25.08.2026: across the entire database the field is empty in every row. Addresses are held solely by Firebase Authentication.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of the terms of use).

4 · What you contribute — and what of it is public

⚠ Contributions are public. That is the purpose of the app: other families should see what you have seen.

Without a username your contribution appears without a name. You decide whether you set one at all.

Leaderboard: anyone with a username appears there automatically. The profile has a switch that takes the name out of the public list — an objection, not a consent. Your points still count towards other people's ranking, your name is no longer shown beside them.

Moderation: every contribution is reviewed before publication. In doing so we see the content and the identifier of the account that submitted it. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (protecting the other users).

5 · Images from Google

For playgrounds that have no user photo, the app fetches an image from Google Places and shows it until somebody contributes one of their own.

• We do not store these images. They are loaded anew on every view; Google's terms explicitly do not permit caching.
• Our server makes the request for the image, not your device. Your IP address does not reach Google in the process.
• ⚠ The image itself is loaded by your device directly from Google (googleusercontent.com). In doing so — as with any image on the internet — your IP address is transmitted to Google.
• The name of the person who took the photo is shown alongside it; Google requires that.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Provider: Google Ireland Limited or Google LLC.

6 · Notifications

Only if you allow them in iOS. We then store a device identifier and a push token in order to be able to tell you that your contribution has been approved or that somebody has sent you a friend request. Delivery goes via Firebase Cloud Messaging and Apple's push service (APNs).

The notification contains no text from us but a key — your device composes the sentence in your language. So we do not know which words appear on your lock screen.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. Revocable at any time in the iOS settings.

7 · Usage statistics

If switched on, we measure anonymously which screens are used — so that we know what to work on. Without an advertising identifier (IDFA), without AdSupport, without any link to your account. Can be switched off in the app.

8 · Advertising — without tracking

The app shows an ad in the Discover feed. It comes from Google AdMob.

⚠ There is still no cross-device tracking. The app does not ask for your device's advertising identifier — no IDFA, no AdSupport, and therefore no tracking dialogue from Apple either. We deliberately do without it. What section 7 says still applies unchanged.

What goes to Google in the process: rough details about the device and the ad — device type, operating system version, an approximate location based on the IP address, and whether you interact with the ad. Google needs them to deliver the ad and to bill for it.

Which ad you see depends on your choice. On the first occasion the app shows a consent sheet. If you consent, Google may use the details to tailor the ad to you. If you decline, you still see an ad, but one that is not tailored to you.

The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw it at any time in the app under "Settings", next to the anonymous usage statistics.

If you support us, you see no advertising (section 10).

Google itself describes how it processes data for AdMob: How Google uses information from apps that use its services.

Should the app ever ask for the advertising identifier, this policy changes first — and you will be asked.

9 · The website kinderspiel.app

Since September 2026 you can also search for playgrounds in a browser, look at them on the map and open individual places — without the app and without an account. This section covers the website; the sections before it describe the app.

When you open a page. The website is hosted on Firebase Hosting (Google). On each request Google logs the IP address, the time, the address requested and details of your browser and system. This is needed to run the site safely. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Protecting our interface. Before the page loads playground data, Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise checks that the request comes from a browser and not from a program emptying our database. For this Google processes the IP address and technical details of the browser, and stores data in your browser. This is the counterpart to the device attestation in the app (section 2). Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Map. As in the app, the map comes from Apple (MapKit JS). While it is drawn, your browser loads the map images directly from Apple, which transfers your IP address to Apple.

Location. Only if you grant it. We ask the browser when you tap "near you", or if you have allowed it for this site before. The coordinates go to our database for the duration of one query and are not stored there.

What stays in your browser. Your choice of language and your recent search terms are kept in your browser's local storage. They do not leave your device, and we do not see them. If you clear the site data, they are gone.

Advertising on the website — different from the app. On kinderspiel.app we show ads through Google AdSense. ⚠ AdSense works with cookies and similar identifiers, unlike the app (section 8). That is why a window from Google appears on your first visit, where you decide:

• You consent: Google may set cookies and tailor the ads to you. The data can also be used for measurement and personalisation across other websites.
• You decline: you still see ads, but they are not tailored to you.

The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, § 25(1) TDDDG). You can withdraw it at any time via "Privacy settings" at the bottom of every page; the window then appears again. Google itself describes how it processes data here: How Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Statistics on the website. We use Google Analytics to measure which pages are opened — only if you agree in that same window. Without your agreement nothing is set and nothing is measured. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, § 25(1) TDDDG. Withdrawal as above.

Signing in in the browser. You can sign in on the website with the same account as in the app, in the same ways; section 3 applies just the same. Signing in runs through Firebase Authentication (Google). The page only loads the code for it when you choose "Sign in" or are already signed in. Your session stays in your browser's storage until you sign out. When you sign in, we create a random identifier for this browser and store it with your language and the note "web" on your account — like the app's device identifier, but without push notifications. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

Supporters. Anyone who is signed in and supports us sees no advertising on the website either. As soon as the page recognises you as a supporter, the ads disappear; on later visits it does not load AdSense at all — and so no consent window and no statistics either. ⚠ Without signing in, the website cannot tell who supports us — then ads appear.

No accounts without your doing. If you only read, you leave nothing behind with us: no account, no row in the database. Only when you contribute something — for example save a place — and choose "Continue as guest" instead of signing in do we create a guest account: a random identifier kept in your browser's storage, like the app's guest account (section 3). ⚠ Safari clears this storage by itself after seven days without a visit; the guest account can then no longer be linked to you. Only you can see your favourites. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

10 · Supporting the app

The app is free. You can donate voluntarily; Apple handles the payment. We learn that a purchase took place and store an identifier for it — no payment data, no credit card number, no billing address. If you support us, you get a badge on your profile and see no advertising; we use the same identifier for that.

11 · Where the data is held

Processors are Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC and Apple. The basis for transfers to the USA is the recipients' certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (European Commission adequacy decision of 10 July 2023), supplemented by the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.

12 · For how long

• Account and profile: as long as the account exists.
• Contributions: permanently. ⚠ Published photos, reviews and playgrounds you added remain visible even after an account deletion — they are part of a map that other people rely on. They are, however, separated from the account: the username disappears and the contribution can no longer be attributed to you. Your name becomes available again.
• Reports and moderation decisions: for as long as they are needed for traceability.
• The version 1.0 database remains in place after the migration, but is only read from.

13 · Your rights

Access (Art. 15), rectification (16), erasure (17), restriction (18), data portability (20) and objection (21). You can withdraw consent at any time — location and notifications in the iOS settings, usage statistics and advertising in the app under "Settings", and on the website via "Privacy settings" at the bottom of every page.

The shortest route for all of it: hallo@kinderspiel.app. In the app, "About Kinderspiel → Give feedback" leads straight there. You can delete your account yourself, in the app under "Profile → Account".

⚠ To be able to identify your guest account we need an identifier — the app's feedback function sends it along on request. Without it, an anonymous account cannot be found by us; that is the price of us not knowing who you are.

Complaints: you can complain to a data protection supervisory authority, in particular to the Landesbeauftragten für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Rheinland-Pfalz — the supervisory authority for Rhineland-Palatinate.

14 · Children

Kinderspiel is aimed at adults looking for playgrounds for their children. Anyone publishing contributions should be at least 16 years old or have the consent of their legal guardians. We deliberately collect no information about children — neither names nor ages nor photos in which children are recognisable. ⚠ Please do not upload photos in which children are recognisable. Moderation rejects such images.

15 · Changes

If what the app does changes, this text changes first. The version in force at any given time is at kinderspiel.app/privacy, with a date.